Archive for October, 2014

I occasionally write little reviews for synths on this blog, but I recently came across an effects pedal some synth users might be interested in. It’s called the Logidy EPSi and it processes audio using something called impulse responses (more on this later). There are two flavors of this pedal offered by Logidy - one that’s designed to produce reverb and another aimed at guitarists looking for speaker cabinet simulations. Really, both version can run on the same device, since it’s just separate operating systems. The EPSi I have is designed to produce digital reverberation, as opposed to natural reverberation from something like a spring reverb tank. In the case of the EPSi, it uses impulse responses to generate reverb, which is a method commonly found only on PC platforms where lots of processing power can be harnessed from beefy CPUs. An impulse response is basically a .wav file, but the impulses can be created by recording natural spaces, like a subway station or phone booth. The .wav files are stored on an SD card, which is conveniently provided with the pedal.

The build of the pedal is impressive. No cheap plastic here. And using the EPSi is extremely straight forward. The impulses are organized by type, and there is a knob that allows you to navigate between files. Load time is quick and is based on the size of the .wav file. I don’t think any of my files take longer than, say, three seconds to load. There is a heavy duty bypass foot switch and the audio jacks are of high quality (and stereo!). There are a couple of small things that I find annoying though. First, this pedal cannot run on batteries, which could be related to the power draw of the processor. It’s not the only effects pedal I have that can’t run off of batteries, I just always find it annoying when I can’t slip in a 9v to free up the power strip. Another thing that is mildly problematic is switching between impulses, which requires the turning of that small knob. Not the best setup for playing live. It would be great if there was a foot switch jack, which was something I use to have on my old DSP-128+ and used all the time. And one other thing that’s not really a criticism, just more of a wish list thing. There is a time limitation on the impulses to five seconds. Not a big deal, but I have some great files that are 10+ seconds long. I imagine there are limitations based on the processor at play here that dictates the restriction, but I would pay double the price for deluxe model that would allow for longer times…if that’s even technically possible. For those longer impulses, I’m stuck using my Muse Receptor, which is just not a very portable even though it’s rack mounted.